The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has put forth a proposed rule aimed at mitigating the generation of new orbital debris from commercial space vehicles. The motivation behind this initiative is to "reduce the potential for collisions with spacecraft and satellites and promote a sustainable space environment." Currently, there are over 23,000 orbital objects measuring 10 cm or larger, with projections indicating approximately half a million objects ranging from 1 to 10 cm. The FAA's notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) primarily addresses the procedures by which commercial operators must dispose of the upper stages of their launch vehicles.
The FAA emphasizes that if left unaddressed, the accumulation of orbital debris could escalate the risk of collisions and orbital congestion, impacting human spaceflight missions and satellite operations vital for communications, weather forecasting, and global positioning systems. To mitigate these concerns, the FAA intends to enforce strict limitations on uncontrolled reentries of upper stages, thereby reducing the associated risk to people on the ground and in flight, given the significant size and mass of these objects and the uncertainty of their landing locations.
The NPRM provides five disposal options for upper stages, including controlled reentry, relocation to less congested storage or graveyard orbits, Earth-escape orbits, retrieval within five years, and uncontrolled atmospheric disposal or natural decay within 25 years. The FAA underscores that this proposed rule aligns commercial space orbital debris mitigation practices with those adhered to by the U.S. government for its space missions. The rule will be open for public commentary for a duration of 90 days upon its publication in the Federal Register.
